There have been many cases around the country where mentally ill individuals conduct acts of violence ending in tragedy for everyone involved. However, according to mental health experts, it's more common for the mentally ill to bring harm upon themselves rather than others as in the case of Alex Brizzi.

"It wasn't him doing it, it was his mind is different now. It's like he's got this obsession," Ed Brizzi said.

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Brizzi is still trying to piece together why his 25-year-old son, Alex Brizzi, according to police, threatened to blow up WBFF-TV on Thursday, but ended up getting himself shot.

Brizzi said his son has battled mental illness in the past and things had gotten better, but then over the past couple of weeks, after a breakup with a serious girlfriend, things went downhill and his son had a mental breakdown.

"We were really trying to watch him because he said the world was going to end on June 3 and he needed to tell the people that the world was going to end," Ed Brizzi said. "What happened to him in the last couple weeks is something inside him that's driving him to do this has never been there before."

"To understand this is another disease, a disease that involves the brain, body and causes people to do things that are totally irrational," said Dr. Elias Shaya, chief of psychiatry at Medstar Good Samaritan.

Shaya said the case of Brizzi just highlights the need for more attention toward mental illness.

Surprisingly, in most cases, the mentally ill end up hurting themselves the most, as in Brizzi's case.

"The risk was much greater to him because he will end up being shot in the process, for the fear that he did have a bomb," Shaya said.

As to how someone like Brizzi could act this way, Shaya said mental health needs to be thought of as a malfunctioning of the brain, just like a heart attack or kidney failure.

"In cases like this, it's almost the same as if the person is dreaming while awake and unable to tell the difference between what is real and what's a dream," Shaya said.

It's something that Alex Brizzi's father said he now sees.

"We didn't really see anything coming that would suggest that he was going to do something like this," Ed Brizzi said.

How can tragedies like this one be avoided in the first place?

Experts say people need to be vigilant when it comes to mental health issues.

"The nature of the illness makes a person believe they are not ill and as a result may not always go along with the treatment and that can make their condition even worse," Shaya said.

If you ever have a question about someone's mental health, you should discuss it with a medical professional, even your primary care doctor.

"If you have a counselor, therapist, psychologist, whatever it is that is a professional to start with, have a low threshold. Do not hesitate to just ask and then they will guide you from there," Shaya said.

According to Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis, Alex Brizzi will be given a complete psychiatric evaluation. While he acknowledged Brizzi committed some very serious crimes, Davis said he also needs other types of help.